Indiana - Rights Violated When Police Stopped Bag Swallowing
Ruling Suppresses Evidence In Drug Case
Associated Press. 06/21/07
Indianapolis -- Police officers violated a man's privacy rights when they grabbed him by the throat until he spit out a bag they suspected contained drugs, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
According to the court's ruling involving a case out of Marion County, officers stopped a driver in August 2005 for having an expired license plate and he was gagging after being ordered out of his car. When the man opened his mouth on command, offices noticed a clear plastic bag.
The man refused to spit it out, so an officer grabbed his throat and applied enough pressure to prevent the bag from being swallowed. After about 20 seconds, the man spit it out and he was subsequently charged with possession of cocaine.
The man claimed that his privacy rights had been violated and moved to have the bag and its contents excluded as evidence. The trial court denied the request but put the case on hold so the evidence motion could be considered by an appeals court. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial judge's ruling, but the state's high court did not.
The ruling cited a previous court decision that found a police choke-hold in a similar situation violated a person's bodily integrity, posed health and safety risks and was likely to incite violent resistance.
The state Supreme Court said the choke-hold in this case violated constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure. It ordered the evidence to be suppressed and returned the case to the lower court for further proceedings.
Retrieved June 22, 2007 from http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13547662/detail.html?rss=ind&psp=news